16 ARRESTED AT US MISSION TO UN
Sixteen people, including Fr. Daniel Berrigan, SJ, Fr. Simon Harak, SJ, Fr. John Dear, SJ, and Kathy Kelly (2000 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee), were arrested on the steps of the US Mission to the UN today as they protested ongoing sanctions and bombings of the Iraqi people. January 16 marks ten years since the start of the Gulf War. Although the formal Gulf War itself lasted only 42 days, sanctions and bombings in the US- and British-imposed "No-Fly Zones" have killed between 1.5 and 2 million people over the past ten years. UNICEF has stated that one in ten children under the age of one will die before their first birthday as a direct result of the sanctions. UNICEF has also stated that 5000 Iraqi children ages five and under die every month as a direct result of the sanctions.
On January 16, activists from all over the US held a non-violent direct action at the US Mission to the UN symbolizing effects of the war on the civilian population of Iraq. The group shared a simple meal based on the daily food ration of ordinary Iraqi families, under the UN/US economic sanctions against Iraq. The meal consisted of lentils and rice. Unpurified water from the East River was brought to the meal to symbolize the contaminated water that many Iraqis have to drink because the country has not been allowed the means to restore its water purification systems destroyed during the Gulf War. Prior to imposition of sanctions, Iraq was classified as an emerging First World country: it is now a Third World country. After sharing the meal, sixteen activists from the group attempted to proceed to the US Mission to the United Nations in order to invite Ambassador Richard Holbrook and other workers at the Mission to share the meal and reflect on the deadly effects of UN sanctions on Iraqi children and other civilians. They were arrested on the steps of the Mission.
Ten years ago, allied forces attacked Iraq after it invaded Kuwait. Today, Kuwait called for a UN program that would truly benefit the Iraqi people. "I have some reservations on the so-called oil-for-food. I would like it to read 'oil-for-food, democracy and freedom"' for the Iraqi people, said Kuwait Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Suleiman al-Shaheen. "Why do we treat the Iraqi people as vegetables? We are not treating them like human beings. Humans need not only food. They are not cattle, they are a nation. We would like to hear the voice of the Iraqi people."
Meanwhile, here in the US, the Bush Administration continues to state that it will toughen the US position on sanctions, even though ten years of that policy has not fazed Iraq's military regime.
Voices in the Wilderness' campaign to stop the UN/US economic sanctions against Iraq began in January 1996 when a core of activists declared their intent to openly carry medicines and medical relief supplies to Iraq in public violation of the sanctions. To date, the group has organized 35 delegations to Iraq and has been threatened, for each offense, with 12 years in prison and over one million dollars in fines.